O.F.F.E.N.D.U.M.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

OFFENDUM X POETS of PROTEST (Oo vs PP) is an experimental juxtaposition of some of the Arab World's most notable poetic voices layered & scratched by Filipino-American DJ Boo over a mix of sample-based Hip-Hop instrumentals from Omar Offendum's beat catalogue.

The four poets sampled were Mazen Maarouf (Palestine), Manal Al Sheikh (Iraq), Ahmed Fouad Negm (Egypt) & Hala Mohammad (Syria) - as seen/heard on the Aljazeera Artscape series 'Poets of Protest' released a little over one year ago (Sep 2012). After listening to this short mix (16:15), we encourage you to watch the full documentary series which includes two more poets (Yehia Jaber of Lebanon & Al Khadra of Algeria / Sahara), as well as translations of all their verses & links to more of their inspiring work >>

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/poetsofprotest/It is our hope that this project can serve as a bridge between lovers of poetry & hip-hop - between America & the Arab World - between generations, languages, cultures & continents . . . Please share this mix with your friends, family, parents & professors!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

It was an honor to be featured in the latest music video by my dear sister Shadia Mansour - produced by Jordanian beatmaker Damar & directed by Global Faction. The video was released earlier this month as a dedication to her late cousin Juliano Mer Khamis, an Israeli/Palestinian actor, director, filmmaker & activist known for establishing the Freedom Theater in Jenin ... May he rest in eternal power + peace.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Last night I had the honor of presenting / performing at The Nobel Peace Prize Forum here in Minneapolis. It was a mix of live music, poetry, speech & reflection. My portion is about 1hr followed by another performance-lecture delivered by my dear Brother Ali. We then have a short Q&A with the audience & moderator towards the end. Much respect to all the peace-loving people who organized, volunteered, supported & attended this beautiful event hosted by Augsburg College.

I also had the distinct pleasure of meeting one of my biggest inspirations - the Yemeni Revolutionary Journalist / Activist / Educator / Nobel Laureate / Mother / SuperWoman - the ever-inspiring Tawakkol Karaman ... She was the first Arab woman, second Muslim woman, & youngest person ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Last week I had the honor of performing and lecturing at Penn State University in State College, PA. Situated right in the middle of Pennsylvania in what is known as the 'Happy Valley', my time there was extremely productive, very memorable, and definitely left me feeling happy - due in no small part to the efforts of my gracious hosts Judy and Beth at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center.

Striking a balance between work / play is how I like to spend my days on tour, and in 48 hours I was able to do just that: lecturing in two Sociology classrooms, performing at a fundraiser for Syrian refugee relief, enjoying a host of local foods, roaming the Amish countryside, and exploring a 30 million year old cave.

I've posted some photos / commentary about my experience below:

Old Main: the first building of major significance on campus is in many ways the architectural focal point of the school - though it can perhaps be argued that Beaver Stadium really is for most of the 50,000+ students ... #LionCountry

The sky was clear and the weather was a perfectly cool. This is the view from the top of a downtown parking garage where you can get a sense of how PSU is situated in the valley ... #SeptemberSun

Speaking of PSU, I often felt like the 'P' really stood for 'Paterno' ... He was everywhere - from cardboard cutouts to building names ... #FootballMoney

The first class I visited that day was called 'West Meets Middle East' (SOC 300). I was told the mission was to 'prepare students to create an ideologically neutral environment for dialogue so that participants can recognize and voice their true concerns about race relations in a productive and meaningful way'. Upon arrival I quickly realized this was the 'Middle East' component of the group who would later meet with the 'West' component after our discussion. The majority of these intelligent young minds were originally from GCC countries (Saudi Arabia / Bahrain / Oman / UAE / etc.) with a couple of them hailing from other Muslim-majority countries as well (Pakistan / Jordan). Being KSA-born and having attended a Saudi school for most of my young life, I felt like I could relate to their stories and thoroughly enjoyed hearing each of their viewpoints. As always, the girls seemed to shine a bit more than the fellas (no offense guys!) and really carried the conversations to interesting places. The shirt I wore that day fit nicely innit? ... #PunIntended

The next class I had the pleasure of visiting was SOC 119, with 720 students seated in a massive amphitheater-style classroom making it the largest course on race relations in the country. It is taught by none other than rockstar professor Sam Richards, whose cool demeanor and visionary approach to teaching left a huge impression on me (maybe that is why he had the distinct honor of being named one of the '101 Most Dangerous Academics in America' according to some lame book). He was able to keep hundreds of students engaged at all times by asking provocative questions, providing eye-opening statistics to back up his arguments, employing the latest in live polling technologies to gauge their reactions, and synthesizing all this information at lightning speed to keep the discussion fluid and focused. Then to top it all off, he let a Syrian-American Hip-Hop artist close out the class with a live performance ... #AcademicBoss

We even had a live Skype session with an actual Iranian (dan dan daaaaaaaaan) ... Pedram (aka Pedro) was able to challenge the negative stereotypes of how Iranians viewed Americans by saying things as simple as: "if you (Americans) visited Iran people here would love to show you around just to have the chance to practice their language skills with a native English speaker"... When Professor Richards asked him what his favorite TV show was, he quickly replied: 'How I Met Your Mother'... As the US / Israel & their allies steadily beat the war drum with Iran, it was 'dangerously' refreshing to hear this perspective in an American university classroom ... #WageDialogue

Towards the end of the class, I was given about 10 minutes to briefly introduce myself to the audience and perform a song of my choosing. All he asked was that it include some Arabic in it - so I chose one of my most popular bi-lingual pieces called 'Destiny' in order to speak directly to the hybridized existence of a young Arab-American. In the Q&A session that followed, I pointed out how the use of a Paul Anka sample in the song was intentional. It gave me the opportunity to highlight how the first 'American Pop Teen Idol' was actually the son of Lebanese immigrants who first learned to play music while attending a Syrian-Orthodox church in his native Ottawa, home to one of the largest Lebanese diaspora populations in North America. I truly felt that I was able to contribute to the discussion in a positive way with my presence that day, and many of the students reached out to me afterwards (both in person and on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram) to show their appreciation ... #OneHumanFamily

This guy was seriously #KTG (killin' the game) with his Terra Trike (recumbent tricycle) and mad hatter steez ... #BossOn3Wheels

He. Was. Everywhere ... #PaternoState

Visiting the Department of Food Science was one of my favorite parts of the day (if I could do it all over again, I'd probably be a food scientist / culinary alchemist) ... The Penn State Creamery is the largest university creamery in the nation, with half of the milk coming from a 225-cow herd at the University Dairy Production Research Center ... #BovineBossStatus

They are always changing / testing new flavors and definitely take pride in their craft. The homegirl Ashley (pictured behind the sign) used to work there and insisted on treating me to my first scoops of Pennsylvania's finest ... #FrozenGratitude

It was a tough choice, but after a couple free tastings I eventually zeroed in on what was gonna be my dairy destiny ... #CaffeinatedCrack

I can honestly say this was some of the freshest, creamiest, most delicious ice cream I have ever had (read: inhaled with the quickness) ... I can understand why alumni far and wide regularly have it FedEx'd to them ... #NostalgiaInATub

God bless the Berkeys ... #LactoseLovebirds

We ended the day off with a small musical / poetic performance at the Spiritual Center's Memorial Lounge. This event also doubled as a fundraiser for Muslims Without Borders' Syrian Emergency Relief efforts, and I was happy to see many familiar faces in the crowd from my two previous classroom visits. The setting was intimate and the audience was both diverse and engaged. I did my thing ... #NotJustAHobby

When washing my hands afterwards (the amount of hands I shake post-performance, you would too) I noticed a hilarious sign that I imagine was left especially for the Muslim students. This took me back to my days of being at ISA, where I regularly walked in on teachers cleaning out their toe cheese in the same sink I was planning to wash my face in ... #AblutionEtiquette

The following day, my host Judy took me on a little tour of Central PA. She was a bit surprised by my fascination with what most city folk might consider 'boring farmland'. I explained that Southern California, my home for the past decade, is beautiful but relatively arid. I grew up on the East Coast, where green fields and rolling hillsides like these brought back many childhood memories of road trips through Maryland and Virginia ... #TheGrassIsAlwaysGreenerOnTheOtherCoast

You know you're in Amish country when you see road signs like this ... #FuelEfficient

A few hours before my departure we stopped at Penns Cave, America's only 'all-water cavern'. While it isn't quite as magnificent as the Jeita Grotto I often visited during family trips to Lebanon, anything that takes millions of years to create is awe-inspiring and definitely worth the trek ... #AllahSculpts

Whenever I see stalagmites I'm immediately reminded of the muqarnas in places like the Alhambra in Spain and Imam Mosque in Isfahan ... #ArchNerd

As the legend above illustrates, the story of Majnoon Layla has many parallels across time and space ... #StarCrossedLove

As I flew away, I was able to sit back and reflect on just how much of a blessing it is to be able to travel and do what I love for a living. From big city shows to rural college towns, there is always something to appreciate if you keep your heart / mind open. Many thanks to everyone who made this trip possible. While I might not be a fan of the Assads, this is one Lion Country I can't wait to see again ;)

Monday, March 19, 2012

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."

- Archbishop Desmond Tutu

I am a human being who believes in dignity, freedom & equality for all - no exceptions ... I am an artist who strives to reflect those ideals in lyrical form ... This is but a small contribution when compared to the sacrifices being made by beautiful, peace-loving Syrian people on a daily basis.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight

Verse 1:

i took a stroll down the straight called str8
met a medicine man about 1/3 of the way
predecessor to the pusherman
with somethin to say
about an apple a day
keepin the sickness away
i valued his advice at face
at first
till he enlightened me to how precise nature worked
givin us citrus fruits in winter time for vitamin c
just met each other but im already invited for tea
(sub7an allah)
as fate would have it
he & i turned out to be related
a small world's even smaller when you're arab - aint it?
made it a point to soak in all his information
bout regenerative meditations
& preventitive medication
like a modern Ibn Sina
with a pretty calm demeanor
& a remedy for everything
that plagued the arab nations
yet when asked of how to cope with our impossible fate
he just said follow the middle path
to a Street Called Straight

Chorus:

it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
that's where we cease all hate
& pray to 3ish peace all day

Verse 2:

i took a stroll down the street called str8
met a spiritual teacher about 2/3 of the way
predecessor to the preacherman
with somethin to say
about a prayer a day
keepin the satan's at bey
he spoke of angels on our shoulders
and the angles of our solar
systematic self-destruction
metaphysical corruption
with a danger to our polar
ice caps
till it's out of our control
& in the hands of our beholder
we philosophized for over
20 minutes like that
taught me lessons
any questions he would
give em right back
said the answers were within us
& i didnt like that
but i realized later why he did it like that
i had so much more to learn
clock was ticking - couldnt stall
committed his words to my memory
his wisdom was enthrallin
yet when askin him what was the most important to recall
he just said follow the middle path
Straight Street & that is all

Chorus:

it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
that's where we cease all hate
& pray to 3ish peace all day

Verse 3:

i took a stroll down the street called str8
met a carpenter hard at work at the end of the way
predecessor to the architect with somethin to say
about not doin tomorrow
what should be finished today
he manipulated wood & metal till it followed function
building all through Via Recta
& Cardo Maximus junction
somethin told me he was wise beyond his years
i had a feelin
from the way that he'd exposed the beams
& ornamented ceilings
with an ambidextrous half
nonchalantly jest & laugh
sayin that my western education
made it hard to grasp
his connection to the past
deep-rooted in his craft
but was more than willing to share with me
the tools he knew i lacked
and for that i would be grateful
learnin how to build the monumental for the playful
& the humble for the faithful
yet when asked of how we'd stack against our impossible odds
he just said follow the middle path
Straight Street to the Gods

Chorus:

it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
it's just what we call fate
llivin on a Street Called Straight
that's where we cease all hate
& pray to 3ish peace all day

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

I flew to Houston last month to attend my cousin's wedding & decided to set up a last-minute show ... It turned out to be a very memorable evening thanks to the Houston chapter of the Network of Arab-American Professionals (NAAP) - who graciously set up a concert for me at the Avantgarden.

While in Houston I also got to meet one of my dear friend's uncles, Mr. Farouk Shami - aka the 'richest hairdresser in the world' ... As I toured his headquarters, factories & warehouses I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of pride & admiration for what this Palestinian immigrant was able to accomplish through his hard work & vision (masha'Allah) ... He has a personal relationship with everyone on the factory floor & still renews his Barbering / Cosmetology license annually!